Closing Stock Market Summary
The stock market had a mixed showing today on below-average volume at the NYSE. The major indices traded in relatively narrow ranges, ultimately settling little changed from Friday. There was not a lot of conviction on either side of the tape as participants look ahead to influential events later in the week.
The standout events include more inflation data in the form of the March Consumer Price Index on Wednesday and Producer Price Index on Thursday.
This morning's release of the New York Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations did not move the market much. The one-year-ahead inflation expectation remaining at 3.0% for the third consecutive month. At the three-year-ahead horizon, expectations increased to 2.9% from 2.7% while expectations for the five-year-ahead horizon dropped to 2.6% from 2.9%.
There was also an element of hopeful anticipation in play today in front of first quarter earnings results from some big banks ahead of the open on Friday.
JPMorganChase (JPM 198.48, +1.03, +0.5%), Wells Fargo (WFC 57.79, +0.39, +0.7%), and Citigroup (C 61.73, +0.13, +0.2%), which are among the names reporting earnings, logged decent gains today.
Other bank stocks outperformed in sympathy. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) gained 1.5% and the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) climbed 1.7%. The S&P 500 financials sector was among the top performers, rising 0.4%.
On a related note, strength in regional bank shares led to the outperformance of the Russell 2000, which closed 0.5% higher today.
Rising market rates did not dampen buying interest in stocks. The 10-yr note yield settled four basis points higher at 4.43% and the 2-yr note yield settled six basis points higher at 4.79%.
This price action was related in part to the market's ongoing recalibration of rate cut expectations, along with some hesitation in front of this week's Treasury sales. There is a $58 billion 3-yr note auction on Tuesday, a $39 billion 10-yr note auction on Wednesday, and a $22 billion 30-yr bond auction on Thursday.
There was no US economic data of note today.
- S&P 500:+9.1% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: +8.3% YTD
- S&P Midcap 400: +7.9% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: +3.2% YTD
- Russell 2000: +2.3% YTD
Looking ahead, Tuesday's economic data is limited to the NFIB Small Business Optimism at 6:00 ET.